New 2025 SHRN data shows regular vaping and smoking have fallen among secondary school learners in Wales. We look at the latest figures, what they mean and why prevention work still matters.
Information / Vaping vs smoking
Vaping vs smoking: what is the difference in risk?
Smoking is far more harmful than vaping. Cigarettes burn tobacco and create thousands of chemicals. Vapes heat e-liquid instead, so people are exposed to fewer toxins and at lower levels.
Vaping is not risk-free, and the long-term effects are still being studied. If you do not smoke, there is no health benefit in starting to vape.
Last reviewed: 24 September 2026
QUICK ANSWER
For someone who smokes, switching completely to vaping reduces harm.
NHS guidance says nicotine vaping is less harmful than smoking. The biggest benefit comes from stopping cigarettes completely, rather than smoking and vaping together.
What do you want to know?
Is vaping safer than smoking?
Yes. Current NHS guidance says vaping is less harmful than smoking. It exposes people to fewer toxins and at lower levels than cigarette smoke.
Is vaping harmless?
No. Vaping is not risk-free, and the long-term health effects are not yet fully known. People who do not smoke should not start vaping.
What if I smoke and vape?
Using both can mean you keep much of the harm from smoking. NHS guidance says you only get the full health benefit of vaping if you stop smoking cigarettes completely.
What if vaping helped me quit?
If vaping is keeping you away from cigarettes, do not rush to stop if you think that could lead you back to smoking. Staying smokefree comes first.
Why smoking is more harmful
Cigarettes work by burning tobacco. That combustion creates smoke containing thousands of chemicals. Many are toxic and some cause cancer.
NHS Better Health states that most of the harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke, including tar and carbon monoxide, are not present in vape aerosol.
This difference in exposure is why switching completely from smoking to vaping reduces the risks linked to cancer, lung disease, heart disease and stroke.
The key difference is combustion
Smoking: burns tobacco and produces smoke.
Vaping: heats e-liquid to produce an aerosol. It does not burn tobacco.
Nicotine: can be present in both. It is addictive, but it is not the main cause of smoking-related cancer, lung disease or heart disease.
Smoking and vaping side by side
Exposure to harmful chemicals
Smoking: very high exposure from tobacco smoke.
Vaping: fewer toxins and generally at lower levels.
Tar and carbon monoxide
Smoking: produced by burning tobacco.
Vaping: not produced in the same way, since tobacco is not burned.
Cancer and lung disease risk
Smoking: a major cause of cancer, COPD and cardiovascular disease.
Vaping: lower risk than smoking, but not risk-free.
Nicotine dependence
Smoking: usually delivers nicotine and can create strong dependence.
Vaping: nicotine vapes can create or maintain dependence.
What about long-term vaping?
Vaping has not been used for as long as cigarettes, so there is less evidence about effects over many decades. NHS guidance states that vaping is unlikely to be completely harmless and that long-term risks are not yet clear.
That uncertainty does not mean vaping and smoking carry the same risk. Current evidence shows smoking is substantially more harmful.
The answer depends on whether you smoke
The useful question is not simply whether vaping has risks. It is whether someone is moving away from a much more harmful product, or starting nicotine use when they did not smoke before.
If you smoke
Switching completely from cigarettes to a nicotine vape can reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals and can help you quit smoking.
If you smoke and vape
Aim to stop cigarettes completely. Continuing to smoke means you continue to be exposed to tobacco smoke and its major health risks.
If you do not smoke
Do not start vaping for health reasons. Vaping can lead to nicotine dependence, and it carries risks of its own.
Want to move away from cigarettes or vaping?
If you smoke, the priority is to stop smoking. Help Me Quit provides free NHS stop-smoking support in Wales.
If you already stopped smoking and now want to stop vaping, use our quit-vaping guide to plan it without putting your smokefree progress at risk.